I Must Confess
by SlytherinPrincess16
Summary: A funeral for two heros. A man on the run returned for one thing: To make a confession.OmeShot. DmHg. Please R&R!


**Disclaimer: I don not own any Harry Potter! **

I Must Confess

It was an exceptionally cold October day in the muggle village of Little Hangleton. The presence of death seemed to envelope the entire village; from the trees stripped bare of their golden leaves to the funeral that was taking place in the tiny church on the hill. No one really inhabited Little Hangleton anymore. Not since Voldemort had taken over the Riddle house as his headquarters during the war. The Order members had discovered where he was hiding out, and had rushed to try and destroy him. They had achieved their goal. Voldemort had been vanquished at the hands of Harry Potter. Unfortunately many had died in the excursion, wizard and muggle alike. Half the population of Little Hangleton had been slayed during the war, and those who had survived had not lingered long after. The wizarding world was a mixture of happiness and grief. Finally free of Voldemort, they wept for all of the brave witches and wizards murdered in the final battle. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were two of those who had given their lives for the greater good of their world, and the reason why the usually empty church in Little Hangleton was packed full with grieving witches and wizards paying homage to their savoir and the last of the Weasley's.

Even though most of the wizarding world was squeezed into the church, one of their own was not. He was in fact hiding under his invisibility cloak so as not to be discovered. He was not welcome among them anymore, and he knew that if he was discovered here, on the day that two of his greatest enemies were to be buried, there would be hell to pay. To them he was a traitor, and even though he had been just as affected by the war as they had been, he knew better than to expect sympathy from them. But he did not care. He was not here to see them. He was here to see her. The last remaining shred of the Golden Trio, and proof that happier times were not just tales of fiction.

He had been waiting outside the church for at least an hour, occasionally hearing the echo of an organ playing sad, slow tunes that he had never heard before. Truth be told he had never attended a funeral before. Even when his parents had been killed during the war he had not gone to the funeral, opting instead to visit them in the Malfoy family crypt afterwards to say his goodbyes. He was sure that no one had shown for the funeral. His parents were not the most popular of wizards, and even though they had been loyal followers, Death Eaters were not likely to congregate in one place while the rest of the wizadring world were constantly searching for them.

Suddenly the heavy wood doors swung open, and a sombre looking group of people in long dark robes descended the stone steps, silently making their way towards the cemetery. The man watched as two white coffins came into his view, followed by a petite looking witch dressed in a simple form fitting black dress. Her hair was pulled back into a long braid which some of her curls had managed to escape. The man watched as she pulled a white cotton handkerchief out of the pocket of the ebony robe she wore atop her dress. Only when she was out of his line of vision did he let out a deep sigh, and begin to make his way to the cemetery. He knew she would linger while the others apperated back home.

He entered the cemetery, trying to close the gate as quietly as possible, and cursing under his breath when it squeaked loudly. He spotted her next to their graves in the middle of the graveyard, her small frame racked with silent sobs. It seemed as though the other's had already left, and for that he was grateful. The last thing he needed was to be discovered, after nearly a year of well-planned hiding.

"It's getting late Granger." The man said as he neared her, pulling off his invisibility cloak as he spoke, revealing a mane of shoulder length flaxen hair as he did so. She spun around to face him. He couldn't help but smirk as he watched her facial expressions change at lightening speed. Confusion, shock, fear, then anger.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing here Malfoy?" She demanded.

"Last time I checked anyone could walk through a graveyard Granger." He replied calmly.

"Not this graveyard Malfoy!" Hermione snapped drawing her wand from her cloak pocket.

"And just what do you think you're going to do with that Granger?" Malfoy asked smugly, slowly advancing towards her.

"Protecting myself against you Malfoy! Last time I checked you were a Death Eater on the run, and I seem to remember your kind not being too fond of witches like me." Hermione said trying to keep her voice as even as possible even though deep down she was terrified. To her astonishment, Draco tilted his head back, and began to laugh. Straight out laugh, with no inhibitions.

"Don't be stupid Mudblood. If my intentions for being here were to harm you, believe me I would have been done with it already. As for my Death Eater status, that has been revoked considering that Voldemort is dead. To bad I never got the chance to thank Potter and Weasley here for that." Draco said, nodding towards the mound of fresh earth and the marble tombstone that marked Harry's gravesite. Hermione's body began to shake as a cause of the anger that was building inside of her; nevertheless she kept her wand arm steady as she spoke.

"How dare you speak about Harry and Ronald! You have no right to utter their names. They were brave men and loyal friends and you are nothing but an evil, repulsive, Ferret! If your not here to kill me, then why don't you just leave?" Hermione spat, anger and confusion coursing throughout her veins. Draco shifted his weight, and gazed down at the grass at her query. Hermione could have sworn that she saw his cheeks colour a bit, but when he faced her again his face was as blank and unresponsive as ever.

"I'm here to talk to you. I have a confession to make." He muttered, barely loud enough for her to hear. At first he feared that she hadn't heard after all; then he saw her anger sub-siding as confusion and curiosity overtook her mind. and knew that she must have heard his words.

"Well out with it then Malfoy. The sooner you tell me what it is you sought me out for, the sooner I can put this out of my memory and move on with what's left of my life." Hermione said impatiently and, in Draco's opinion, rather rudely. His eye's darkened immediately at her words. Didn't she understand that this was important to him? Didn't she care? Of course not Draco, would you feel sympathetic towards the one person responsible for the misery in your life?

"It's not that simple Mudblood!" Draco snapped, tone icy.

"Oh really Ferret? Well let's see. You say you have something to confess to me, I say okay, you confess, we go our separate ways. What's not simple about that?" Hermione retorted sarcastically.

"Your letting your hate for me get in the way of you reasoning. Did it ever occur to you that after I tell you what it is I have to say we won't be able to go our separate ways? At least not without some new perspectives on each other." Draco replied; voice returning to it's deadly calm. Hermione merely snorted at this statement.

"Malfoy, nothing you have to say to me would change the hate I feel for you. Not now, not ever. In fact I don't see a point in us talking at all, so I think you should leave now, before I'm forced to alert some Order members of a convict in my presence."

"Please Mudblood, I need to tell you this. Besides I think you'd regret turning me away later on." Draco half pleaded, stepping forwards slightly. Hermione eye's widened at the use of the word 'Please'. Not in all their years together at Hogwarts could she ever recall hearing him use the word, and it was this more than anything else that made her give him a chance.

"Fine, but only if you stop using the term Mudblood around me, and stay where I can see you. I don't any funny business going on Malfoy."

"Deal, if you stop calling me Ferret, it wasn't a pleasant experience." Draco agreed, wincing slightly at the memory.

"Very well. Now what is it that you wanted to confess to me Malfoy?"

"It's kind of a long story Hermione." Draco said. Her name sounded foreign on his lips, yet it felt so right at the same time. At any rate, it had its desired effect. Hermione seemed to relax, and she lowered her wand so that it wasn't pointed at his heart, yet still clearly visible.

"You'd best tell me then Draco." She said weakly; wondering why he'd used her first name and, even more troubling, why it had made her stomach flutter. Little did she know that her use of his given name had made his stomach flutter as well however, he was fully aware of why; it was what he had come to confess.

"All my life I have had my decisions made for me. I had no control over the paths life presented me with. On the other hand I didn't have the stress and fear of choosing the wrong path either. It was suffocating yet oddly liberating. You see from the moment I was born, I had people telling me how to act, talk, and even dress. I was told who my friends were, and who were my enemies. I was told which school I would attend, what classes I would take after Owls and into Newts, and the kind of future I could expect. When I was younger I thought this was wonderful. I didn't have to worry about doing something wrong, because I was doing what everyone wanted me to do. I believed myself to be lucky. However, around my sixth year at Hogwarts I realised something. I was not lucky at all. I was a prisoner in my own life. I was a brainless android, sent to do their dirty work. I was a pawn, someone to be manipulated and used. But that wasn't my choice, I had been conditioned to this form of life, and I hated myself for it." Here Draco paused, looking up imploringly at Hermione searching for some sign of understanding.

"Why are you telling me this Draco?" Hermione enquired, more curious than scared of his actions.

"Because you need to understand where I'm coming from when I make my confession." He replied simply before continuing.

"So I had made a revelation that shocked me and tore away all my old prejudices, forcing me to re-evaluate my life. Then I received a letter with a date, time, and location scribbled hastily on it in my mother's handwriting. I knew this was meant for my induction into Voldemorts circle, and even though I knew this was not the life I wanted, I complied and received my mark. I have regretted it ever since that day, but I was sixteen, I was naïve, and scared of letting down my father absurd as it sounds."

"That's not absurd at all Draco." Hermione said gently, startling Draco.

"One of the main reasons I studied so hard in school was to please my parents. Spells, and Jinxes they didn't comprehend to well, but grades were things they could grasp. Things they could be proud of me for. Probably one of the only things…" Hermione explained, not making eye contact. Even though she was putting up a brave front, Draco heard her voice break at the mention of her parents to him.

"Yes, well that's why I got the Dark Mark." He continued awkwardly.

"And it's also the main reason I carried out all the tasks I was delegated, no matter how nauseated I was with myself. That, and the fact that I wanted to keep my life; a mess as it was. You know as well as I do what those tasks implied I do, I trust I don't have to go into detail."

"How could I forget? Your missions involved the murders of my parents, and friends. You took everything that was precious to me Draco. Why are you making me relive it?"

"So that you understand how truly sorry I am for what I did back then. I was scared and foolish, and I was more concerned with saving my own arse to realise the misery I was causing." He stressed, a sense of urgency in his tone.

"Is that your confession then Malfoy? That you're sorry for being the worlds biggest prat in school, and for killing my friends and family?" Hermione asked, a bit of the anger returning to her voice. Draco felt stung at her words. He new his next move would shock her, and frankly it shocked him as well. In three quick, strong, strides he was right in front of her. She was a good head shorter than him, and he found himself marvelling at how so much courage could reside within such a tiny, and seemingly fragile, body. Slowly he raised his hand so that it cupped her cheek. She gasped at the sudden contact, but made no act to move away from his touch. Instead she found herself inadvertently leaning into his hand, and closing her eyes. Only when she felt his thumb caressing her face did her eyes snap open and she regain her senses.

"Don't touch me!" She yelped, pushing his hand away from her face.

"You still think me a monster, don't you?" He asked not really needing an answer, a look of disappointment on his face.

"How could I think otherwise Draco? You kill my mother and father at the start of this damned war, and aided in the deaths of my two best friends at the end of it! How could I possibly feel anything else?" She questioned angrily. She was not only angry with him, but with herself as well; for at the moment she had felt him touch her all her defences had seemed to fade, and she had felt herself losing her grip on reality.

"It's a shame you still fell that way Hermione. I had hoped my story would have made you see things from a different point of view, but I guess my hopes were dumbfounded. I cannot change what I've done, but I thought maybe I could try to repay my debt by giving you an explanation of why I choose the path I did."

"I understand that you were in a very difficult position, but why tell me? Why not go on living life the way you were?" She asked, tilting her head back slightly to look him in the eyes. They were still standing in close proximity of one another and she could smell the scent of stale smoke on his otherwise pristine cloak. She smiled to herself. He smelt like her father, after coming indoors from smoking on the porch because her mother didn't want him smoking around her.

"Because Hermione, we all make mistakes, and the least we can do is to try and make up for them with what time we have left in this world. I know you no longer want me here, and I said what I came to tell you, so I'll leave you now." He said, turning away and walking towards the rusty gate that lead out of the cemetery. Hermione suddenly felt very cold without him standing in front of her blocking the night breeze, and she pulled her cloak closer around her. She also felt an overwhelming sense of sadness at seeing him go, and decided that she would not utter a word of his presence in the cemetery to anyone in the Order. It would be her secret. She began to think of her flat in Hogsmeade, and how nice it would be to make a small fire before bed when something clicked in her mind.

"Draco wait!" she cried, sprinting towards the gate in time to catch him before he had had a chance to apperate.

"What do you want Granger? It's getting quite cold out here, and I can't be spotted in one place for to long; someone might be watching us and alert the ministry, and then my ass would be in Azkaban." Draco said a little perturbed at her sudden interest in him. She had wanted him gone, now what? He thought impatiently.

"You never answered my question earlier Malfoy." She said, deciding to let the fact that he probably deserved to be in Azkaban right now slip. She didn't want to make him angry, and have him leave her hanging.

"What question?" Draco asked, a perplexed look adorning his elegant features.

"The one about how you being sorry was your confession to me." Hermione reminded him.

"Oh that. No, that was not my confession." He answered her, picturing his rented Hotel room in a wizard village in Holland. It had been the only place left to hide seeing as nobody knew him or the Malfoy family there. The room was not ideal, but at least it wasn't Azkaban.

"Tell me." Hermione said, curiosity finally getting the best of her.

"Tell you what?" Draco asked, smirking as he riled her up.

"Oh for Merlin's Sake! You know what! Your confession. Tell me your confession." She said frustrated, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Oh that!" Draco said in mock realisation, a ghost of a smirk playing on his lips.

"Well you see Granger, I'm not quite sure when or where it happened. Most likely around the time I realised my opinions and beliefs were wonky. Somewhere along the line, I saw you in a different light. You were no longer a bucktoothed Mudblood, disgusting in every way and no higher than filth under my shoe. I saw you as a bright witch, an equal, and very beautiful."

"Draco…I…" Hermione began, absolutely flabbergasted at what he was saying, and feeling that fluttering in the pit of her tummy for the second time that night. However, before she could finish, she felt his lips cover hers. Once again she lost her grip on the world as their lips moved as one. She moaned into his mouth as he deepened the kiss, and then just as quickly as it had began, it was over. His lips left hers and she was brought back to reality.

"I guess what I was trying to say is that; Hermione Granger, I confess to falling in love with you." He whispered into her ear before lifting his head and apperating away, leaving her standing alone in the cemetery still reeling from everything that he had said, and a single tear running down her face.

**Author's Note: I had to get this jotted down before it drove me nuts! LoL. Anyways, schools been hectic once again, and I'm getting over a really bad flu so that's why I have not updated OTWT much, but I'm on it no worries! Hope you guy's liked this little one shot. Please review (All reviews welcome, flame or not) Constructive criticism never falls on deaf ears with me so do not be shy! **

**SlytherinPrincess16 **


End file.
